Hen&#39;s nest



Dec. 12, 1939. B. A. GRAsBERGER HENS NEST Filed Jan. 10, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ,Bony'ce-'rase7er I 9 By Attorneys Dec. 12, 1939. B. A.' GRASBERGER HENS NEST 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Jan. lO, 1939 A n n venor Boniface r'seger A orneys Patented Dec. 12, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to hens nests, and has for the primary object the provision of a device of this character which may be easily kept in a sanitary condition and is especially adaptable for use in conjunction with a plurality of similarly constructed nests, preferably arranged in tiers and in any number of tiers and any number of nests to each tier and providing a separation between pens for hens, each nest being automatic in operation, that is, to automatically close on the entrance of a hen from one pen which is desiring to lay and permitting said hen to leave at will to thevother pen after laying and the hen leaving said nest brings about automatic reopen` ing of the nest for the next hen desiring to lay,

whereby within a short period of time, 'the hens which are laying will become separated from the hens which are not laying, permitting laying hens to be segregated from hens which are undesirable or non-productive of eggs.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be hadv to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view illustrating a hens nest constructed in accordance with my invention and showing the same set to receive a hen desiring to lay.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the' device which has become automatically closed after the entrance of the hen for laying.`

Figure 3 is an end view illustrating the rear door of the nest.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 2, showing the front door and in a closed position.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional View illustrating a modified form of my invention.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 showing the nest with the doors thereof' closed after the entrance of a hen for laying therein.

Figure '7 is a transverse sectional view showing the front door in closedposition.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 indicates as in entirety a nest, consisting of vertically arranged front and rear walls 6 and 1, side walls 8 integral with the front and rear walls and top and bottom walls 9 and Ill separable from the front and rear and side walls and each of a plate-like construction projecting beyond the front and rear doors so as to provide rests (Cl.r 119-50) adjacent said doors outwardly of the front, rear and side Walls. Having the top and bottom walls separable from the front, rear and side walls, will permit the interio-r of the nest to be easily cleaned so that it may be kept in a sanitary condition. Also this arrangement permits any number of nests to be arranged in superimposed relation, the top wall of one nest forming the bottom wall of the nest thereabove. Also, in the use of this device it is to be understood that any numl ber of nests can be arranged in superimposed relation or in tiers and any number of tiers arranged adjacent to each other with any number of nests in each tier.

When the nests have thus been arranged they are positioned between pens (not shown) for the hens, the front wall being opposite one pen and the rear wall opposite the other pen, the front and rear walls having doorways I I.

A front door I2 is composed of upper and lower sections I3 and I4 hinged together, as shown at I5, and the upper section I3 is hinged on the inner face of the front wall above the doorway of said front wall, as shown at I6. The width of the sections of the front door is slightly greater than the width of the doorway in the front wall so that the front dooricannot be sho-ved outwardly of the nest but may swing inwardly and upwardly.

A rear door I'I is hinged on the outer face of the rear wall I just above the upper edge of the f doorway of said rear wall and the length thereof is such that the door when in doorway closing position is spaced a limited distance above the lower edge of the doorway to permit ventilation for the nest when both doors are closed and to` admit light for the purpose of attracting a henl to the rear doorway after finishing laying.

A flexible element I8 has one end Secured to the rear door Il adjacent its lower edge and eX- tends through the nest and through an opening I9 provided inlthe section I3 of the front door and is secured to the section Id of the front door, as shown at 20. It is preferable that the fiexible element I8 be located closer to one of the side walls than the other so as not tointerfere with the hen while in the nest.

In operation, the rear door Il' is in a closed position and the front door is placed in an open position by swinging the lower section I4 upwardly so as to engage with the front wall, as shown in Figure l', leaving suicient space between the lower edge of the section It and the lower edge of the doorway to permit a hen to pass partly into the nest and on further movement of the hen into the nest the door I2 is moved into a substantially fully open position by the back of the hen and on so doing the section I4 is moved away from the front wall and as the hen clears the front door the section I4 swings downwardly and the front door assumes door-losing position, as shown in Figure 2. The hen is then closed off from the pen which it left and is in seclusion within the nest which adds to the desirability of the nest for the hen to lay in. After the hen has laid the rear doorway being partly open admits suiiicient light to attract the hen thereto and the hen pushing on the rear door I1 swings the latter upwardly so that the hen may leave the nest to enter the second pen. The rear door I l swinging upwardly into dotted line position, as shown in Figure 1, elevates or swings upwardly the front door and at the same time folds the section I4' upwardly toward the section I3 so that on the hen freeing the rear door and the closing of the latter the front door assumes the full line position, as shown in Figure 1, that is, in an open position to admit the next hen for laying. Thus it will be seen that after the nest has been in use between two pens for a period of time the hens that lay become corralled in the pen opposite the rear wall while the non-laying hens remain in the first pen or the pen opposite the front wall, thereby bringing about a segregation of the laying and non-laying hens. Of course, after the nest has been in use for some time and several tests have been made by permitting the laying hens to use the nest and the non-laying hens naturally not using the nest permits the operator then to determine which hens are of no value from the standpoint of producing eggs and are frequently termed boarders in the art and, of course, may be disposed of for eating purposes. Also, through the use of the device the hens which are regular layers and the hens which only lay at intervals may be segregated so that the hens laying every day eventually can be kept separately for breeding purposes.

Referring to my modified form of the invention, as shown in Figures 5 to 7, inclusive, the nest proper, indicated in entirety by the character 2l, is constructed similarly to the nest proper 5 in the heretofore described form of the invention. Also, the front and rear doors 22 and 23 are similarly constructed to the front and rear doors I2 and I 1. In the modified form of the invention, the dierence is in the operating means for the iront and rear doors 22 and 23. The rear door has pivoted thereto a rod 2l! including a pair of sections pivotally connected, as shown at 25, one section being pivoted to the rear door 23, and the other section to an arm 26 secured on the front door 22 or the lower section 21 thereof, as clearly shown in Figure '7. Thus it will be seen that the rod 24 and arm 25 takes the place of the flexible element I8. The fro-nt wall intermediate its upper and lower edges and on opposite sides thereof is provided with projections 23 to be engaged by the section 21 for supporting the front door in a partly open position and sufficient to partially admit a hen to the nest so that on the advancement of the hen entirely into the nest the front door will be elevated to the dotted line position so as to free the section 2'! from the projections 28 and allow the front door to assume a complete door-closing position as shown in Figure 6. When the hen leaves the nest by way of the rear doorway by pushing the rear door 23 upwardly the front door is folded and swung upwardly until the section 2'I engages with the projection 28 thereby resetting the nest for the next hen.

It is believed that the foregoing description, when taken in connection with the drawings will fully set forth the construction and advantages of this invention to those skilled in the art to which such invention relates, so that further detailed description will not be required.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A hens nest comprising an enclosure having front and rear doorways, a hinged rear door for the rear doorway and adapted to be opened by a hen leaving the enclosure, a hinged front door for said front doorway and including hingedly connected sections, one of which is adapted to engage the enclosure for supporting the door in a partly open position to permit partial admittance of a hen to said enclosure whereby on the full admittance of a hen to said enclosure the hen brings abo-ut elevation of said front door from a partly open position and when freed of the hen the door is adapted to assume a full closing position, and means connecting said doors whereby the opening of the rear door by the hen brings about repositioning of the front door in a partly open position.

2. A hens nest comprising an enclosure having front and rear doorways, a hinged rear door for the rear doorway and adapted to be opened by a hen leaving the enclosure, a hinged front door for said front doorway and including hingedly connected sections, one of which is adapted to engage the enclosure for supporting the door in a partly open position to permit partial admittance of a hen to said enclosure whereby on the full admittance of a hen to said enclosure the hen brings about elevation of said iront door from a partly open position and when freed of the hen the front door assumes a full closing position, and a exible element connected to the rear door and extending freely through one of the sections of the front door and secured to the other section of said front door whereby on the hen opening the rear door the front door will be repositioned in a partly open position.

3. A hens nest comprising an enclosure having front and rear doorways, a hinged rear door for the rear doorway and adapted to be opened by a hen leaving the enclosure, a hinged front door for said front doorway and includes hingedly connected sections, one of which is adapted to engage the enclosure for supporting the door in a partly open position to permit partial admittance of a hen to said enclosure whereby on the full admittance of a hen to said enclosure the hen brings about elevation of said front door from a partly open position and when freed ol the hen the front door assumes a full closing position, a rod including pivotally connected sections with one section pivotally connected t o the rear door, an arm secured on one of the sections of the front door and pivotally connected to the other section of said rod whereby on the rear door being opened by a hen the front door will be repositioned to a partly open position.

4. A hens nest comprising front and rear and side walls integrally connected and said front and rear walls having doorways, top and bottom walls engaging said front, rear and side walls and separable therefrom and projecting beyond the front and rear walls, a rear door hinged on the rear wall and swinging outwardly from the rear wall, a front door hinged on the front wall and swinging inwardly of said front wall and 75 including hingedly connected sections whereby one of said sections may be positioned to engage the front Wall for supporting the front door in a partly open position, and means connectingvsaid doors whereby on the opening of the rear door, said front door is moved thereby into a partly open position to permit a hen to pass under said front door and oncoming in contact With the latter the hen brings about freeing of said front door from the partly open position for assuming a closed positionwhen disengaged from the hen. 5

BONIFACE A. GRASBERGER. 

